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Original poster

Lord of the Flies

36 replies

speedymama · 22/08/2006 10:57

I have just started reading this and I can already sense that Piggy is going to suffer at the hand of the others. Children can be very cruel about others who are different or who don't conform to some artificial standard.

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Sophiev73 · 28/09/2006 14:22

Glad you could suspend disbelief...

Blandmum · 28/09/2006 14:21

[smug bastard emoticon needed]

I did 'enjoy' the book. In spite of the error!

Sophiev73 · 28/09/2006 14:19

MB can't wait to use that as a quiz question!!

Sophiev73 · 28/09/2006 14:18

I love all Golding's books but I teach 'Lord of the Flies' every year to my GCSE English classes
(when I'm not on maternity leave!) and love it every time. Any book that can withstand 10 years of analysis has to be a goodun. Simon's final scene has me in tears every time I read it still. One of the best passages in the English language imo...

Blandmum · 28/09/2006 14:17

The book is based on a flawed idea

Piggy is short sighted....without his glasses he can't see anyone, thus gets flattened by the rock at the end.

The lenses used for short sighted people are diverging, they don't focus light to a point. So you couldn't use piggy's glasses to light the fires etc.

I told my O level English teacher this and she thought it was kidding, and checked it woth the Physics departmant.

Socci · 28/09/2006 14:13

Message withdrawn

clerkKent · 28/09/2006 13:00

Lord of the Flies is much more accessible - I can't imagine The Spire ever being a GCSE set text - and more popular, so yes, it is better.

Socci · 27/09/2006 19:11

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Socci · 27/09/2006 15:17

Message withdrawn

Original poster
speedymama · 27/09/2006 10:24

Thank you all for your clarification and analyses. As I read the book, I became more aware of the metaphorical and sublimal messages that I was missing. I would love to study this book in more detail. It may sound corny but for some reason, the book had a profound effect on me. I keep thinking about the fact there are certain sections in our society who appear to be rejecting the established societal rules, etiquette, laws etc and think that they can do what they like without considering the impact on others or on society as a whole.

My DH is going to read it because I told him that it is a book that invokes a lot of questions and leads you to contemplate your own behaviour and perspective within society.

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Bink · 27/09/2006 09:37

I didn't know about the boat - I met him towards the very end of his life, and he was telling me about a college in Texas which was doing a symposium just about him (first time such a thing had been done) and he was wondering what the protocol for walking into a symposium about yourself ought to be. He was very white-haired and white-bearded and benign so I suggested he be lowered onto the podium in a tub (as in mystery plays) and he was rather nice about that.

I waver a bit about his books - I loved Pincher Martin when I discovered it in the library as a teenager - it's a great book to come across by accident - but I was reading the first of the sea trilogy at the same time as reading Midnight's Children & the Golding book was quite seriously overshadowed by MC.

ShowOfHands · 27/09/2006 09:27

reflection

doh! pg brain!

ShowOfHands · 27/09/2006 09:26

I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on the representation of the child in modern Gothic literature and used LOTF as one of my texts. It is a very good book to teach because of the numerous motifs running through it. It is also worth remembering as you read it that a lot of the thematic content is a relection of its time (1954, postwar Britain and the sheer horror of what humans can do in an unnatural situation).

eidsvold · 27/09/2006 09:11

Bink is right - lord of the flies is another name for beelzebub. It was to do with the evil that exists within us all if we are not bound by societal rules and standards.

Marina · 27/09/2006 09:01

And I'd also recommend the To the ends of the earth trilogy of sea novels - brilliant read and recently dramatised really well by the BBC.
We did Lord of the Flies at an all girls' school too!
Dh studied Golding at university and his favourite is The Spire.
I can well imagine he was a poppet actually bink - didn't he and his wife build their own boat and sail off round the world on it or something?

clerkKent · 27/09/2006 08:53

Pincher Martin is the name of a book by William Golding. It is about a sailor who is shipwrecked and what happens next.

I came across another book with the same name. Pincher Martin is a traditional name for a sailor. This version was written during the 1st World War as a recruitment aid for the Royal Navy.

Original poster
speedymama · 27/09/2006 08:31

Clerkkent, which Pincher Martin book would you recommend as a starter?

TIA

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clerkKent · 25/09/2006 12:21

I read all William Golding's novels - if you liked Lord of the Flies, try Pincher Martin next.

Bink · 24/09/2006 23:03

"Lord of the Flies" is a traditional translation of "Beelzebub". (Not sure if it's a correct translation, but that's not relevant.)

It's referring to the pig's head that they turn into a demonic god thing ... and therefore the devil within the boys, and therefore us all .. etc.

I met Golding once, he was a poppet.

moondog · 24/09/2006 23:01

Sppedy,I went to a girls' boarding school.We did it (and loved it.)

Original poster
speedymama · 24/09/2006 23:00

Eisvold, you are right about Simon and how he met his tragic death was horrific. He came across to me as a contemplative and fragile soul.

I need to read the book again because I'm sure there are many subtleties that I missed but can someone explained to me why the book is called "The Lord of the Flies"? The Lord of the Flies was mentioned but was it also used as a pseudonym for what was going on with the boys or am I over-analysing it?

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eidsvold · 23/09/2006 08:08

I found Simon's end more disturbing. Real insight into true mob mentality and how it can take away any rational thought.

eidsvold · 23/09/2006 08:08

I think Simon suffers more than Piggy and possesses a greater depth of understanding of the human character and frailties.

eidsvold · 23/09/2006 08:07

yup speedy mumma - here in Aus and in the UK where I taught English to high schoolers.

mummyhill · 23/09/2006 08:06

Excellent book. We had it as a set book at school as well.

On talking to friends with older children they do indeed still read this at GCSE level in the "higher ability set"

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